The author | Lin Jiao
The editor | abundant
Phoenix.com Original | A Ukrainian Winter Olympics champion who has attracted much attention because of being embraced by the Russians, at this moment on social platforms accused the Russian military of missiles to lie, calling on NATO to help.
The Russo-Ukrainian war was so brutal. Many people think of the warm scene at the Beijing Winter Olympics 10 days ago.
On February 16, in the men's aerial skills final in freestyle skiing, when Ukrainian Alexander Abramenko was sure to win the silver medal, bronze medalist Russian Ilya Brov rushed up and hugged him from behind.
Russian-Austrian player Brov (left) hugs Ukrainian player Abramenko (right).
I have to say that the classic moments that the sports photographer freezes are both representative and coincidental, and they are always meaningful. Broff smiled more casually, while Abramenko was a little shy and seemed slightly concerned.
The former is 34 years old, the latter is 31 years old, and both of them are smiling and showing their folds.
Thousands of miles away from the final day, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy signed a decree in Kiev declaring February 16 Ukraine's "Unity Day," requiring Ukrainians to fly the flag and play the national anthem on this day to consolidate the ability of Ukrainian society to cope with "growing mixed threats."
As we all know, this threat, like Brov, comes from Russia.
Brolf's congratulations came from the heart.
Of all 45 Ukrainian athletes competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics, Abramenko was the only one to win the medal.
Ukraine's first participation in the Winter Olympics since independence was in Nagano, Japan, in 1998, when Ukraine won nothing, but established a relative advantage in the final of the freestyle ski men's aerial skills, four of the 12 players came from Ukraine. Abramenko, who was only 10 years old at the time, became the heir to this "dominant winter project".
After winning the silver medal in Zhangjiakou, Abramenko has undoubtedly become the greatest athlete in Ukrainian winter sports with 1 gold and 1 silver in two consecutive Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and Beijing. This is the fifth Winter Olympics in which Abramenko will participate, and it is most likely the last.
This may really be his last jump in the international competition for Ukraine.
▎ Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle skiing men's aerial skills final, Abramenko wearing the Ukrainian flag to celebrate.
When Brov hugged him, Abramenko was waving the Ukrainian flag in his hand. This scene clearly proves that a Russian is holding a Ukrainian.
This is the arena, not the battlefield. Their friendship lasted at least 12 years.
According to documented information from the FiS International Ski Federation, the first time the two competed together was in the two races of the FIS European Championship in Ukraine in March 2010, with the 22-year-old Abramenko finishing second in one of the races and the 19-year-old Brov finishing 10th in the same race.
The following year, Abramenko won the European Championship in Ukraine, and Brov won the second place in the Russian Championship, becoming the top player in their respective countries.
In the long years since, Abramenko and Broff have participated in almost all international competitions above the level of the World Cup, the World Championships in the United States, the World Championships in Norway, the Sochi Winter Olympics, the Austrian World Championships, the Swiss World Championships, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Kazakhstan World Championships, the Beijing Winter Olympics...
The 2017 World Championships in Spain were the only ones they missed. Even the absence is so tacit.
▎ At the award ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Abramenko and Broff talked backstage.
They played on the same field at least 50 times, racing together across the Northern Hemisphere. Abramenoko occasionally trails Broff in the rankings, but overall his results are better. Brov followed Abramenko to watch him win the World Cup and the Winter Olympics, and he himself grew into a strong competition for medals.
If you travel with a person all year round, nationality is almost the least important attribute, not to mention that the affection between athletes can always transcend ordinary friendships.
After the Beijing Winter Olympics Chinese should have a more intuitive understanding of this. Whether it is Gu Ailing's comfort to the silver medalists or Su Yiming's respect for the gold medalists, they all show the remarkable sports culture in the freestyle skiing program: it is almost a mutually reinforcing utopia where the opponent is just his own.
However, they do not live in the paradise. Just as Gu Ailing will be questioned by reporters about which country she really is, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that broke out in 2014 has made the exchanges between athletes of the two countries in the field of sports sensitive in recent years.
A typical example: footballer Rakitsky has never been called up to the Ukrainian national team since joining Zenit FC in the Russian Premier League in 2019. Behind Zenit is Gazprom.
However, the special high-pressure atmosphere may actually strengthen the personal friendship between the two.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Abramenko won the gold medal and Brov won the bronze medal, and they each set a career best. Because of the punishment of the World Anti-Doping Organization, Russian players can only participate in the name of the Russian Olympic Committee, and are not allowed to bring the flag into the arena. Abramenoko, dressed in the Ukrainian flag, took Brov into his arms.
▎ At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Abramenko, dressed in the Ukrainian flag, took Brov into his arms.
The scene was controversial in Ukraine.
At the time, activists inside Ukraine flocked to ukraine on social networks advising him to "not return to Ukraine" and that it would be better to "change his nationality", "shame on those who hug and kiss the enemy", and even "deprive him of the monetary reward of his medals" and "strip him of the title of sports master", with some suggesting that he should not be allowed to return until he "apologizes to the soldiers".
Abramenko's explanation sought to temper this extreme sentiment: "We are people from the same planet, obviously some people have different views, I just want peace in the whole world." My personal opinion is that when you win the gold medal, you'll be ecstatic, your true situation will be revealed, you can hug and greet your friend casually, I don't care what nationality he is. He is a man. ”
Ukrainian TV presenter Bogdan. Butkovich defended Abramenko: "In modern professional sports, athletes have a smaller and smaller concept of nationality among themselves, they train together for 11 months a year, live, marry, and baptize each other's children. For them, it is not that there is no war. They just didn't extend the war to those who lived with them for 11 months. The focus here is not on the lack of patriotism of athletes, but on the belonging and globalization of professional sports. ”
Four years on, the smell of gunpowder on both sides has heated up even further, and it is hard to believe that ukrainians are still talking openly about this "insignificant" friendship.
Before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ukraine's Minister of Sports, Vadim Guzet, publicly stated that Ukrainian athletes should avoid standing next to Russian athletes, reminding that at last year's Tokyo Olympics, Russia's Maria Rasitzkoni, who won the gold medal in the women's high jump, and Yaroslava Mahuqikh, who won the bronze medal, hugged and took a group photo, causing "strong reaction and controversy" in Ukraine.
▎ At the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, Russia's Maria Rasitzkoni and Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchkh hugged each other and took a happy group photo.
This time, Abramenko really didn't take the initiative to do anything. But he couldn't stop Brov from holding him from behind. Abramenko didn't respond much after the game, and the only thing he said when he returned home was: "This time I didn't (actively) hug anyone." I just greet them like athletes, that's all. ”
But Brov said a lot to the Russian media.
"We met when we started freestyle skiing. To this day, we still maintain a fraternal friendship among fraternal peoples. We always maintain friendship and support each other. We wrote letters to each other and called each other. ”
"I warmly congratulate him on winning an Olympic medal. Just as we stood on the podium in South Korea (the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics), we said friendly and kind words to each other. It all started in South Korea, when Sasha (Abramenko's nickname) embraced me with his national flag. ”
"There is a political view that what we are doing is wrong. We are glad that we were photographed on camera, which shows the mutual support and friendship between peoples of all countries. The Olympics have nothing to do with politics. ”
It turns out that sport and politics are not unrelated, it is the positive and negative sides of the coin. For Russia and Ukraine, the Beijing Winter Olympics are the utopia of the past, and the war is the reality.
After the Russian army attacked Ukraine, from UEFA to the local football federation, from Manchester United to Schalke 04, the attitude of the European sports federation to boycott Russia was clear.
For Abramenko, the status quo is unimaginably bad.
▎ Abramenko and his Russian wife and newborn children.
Seven years ago, Abramenko married the Russian skier Olova as his wife, and some people suspected that he was pro-Russian, but he directly rejected Russian naturalization and firmly served his motherland.
Four years ago, when Abramenko was forced to take a stance, he was as neutral as possible, saying, "Russia — the aggressor?" Is what I see and hear true? More precisely, this is not the case. In my opinion, it was all planned. Not just from us or from them. There are also third and fourth parties behind this interest. Maybe I was wrong, but I think so. In any case, only ordinary people suffer – from our side, from them. ”
He and Olova's child was born 2 years ago and the family lives in Kiev. Orlova said: "I will follow Alexander and I want to be his wife anywhere. ”
What else could he say now. On Feb. 18, he posted a photo on Instagram standing on the podium — just his own, of course. He said: "Everyone in the Ukrainian Olympic delegation is concerned about what is happening in the motherland, and I know how difficult it is for every Ukrainian. Winning medals on Solidarity Day is especially important to me. ”
▎ Abramenko posted a photo of himself on the podium of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
As soon as he returned to Kiev, Putin declared war.
After a few days of silence, on Feb. 26, Abramenko finally posted a video of a residential building with smoke coming from a corner of the waist destroyed by a shell. He questioned in Russian rather than Ukrainian: "Is this called "targeting military infrastructure"? ”
▎ Abramenko posted.
After a while, he still couldn't help but express his chest. "I understand what's going to happen, but I don't believe it's the end result. Unfortunately, we have been dealt a despicable blow by "our greater neighbor" who calls himself a "brother". My native Ukraine, I am sure we will not be defeated. I defended Ukraine's sporting glory at the Olympics, and now our soldiers have heroically defended our freedom. ”
Finally, he even made a direct point in English: "Russia is forbidden to use the swift system!" Defend the skies of Ukraine! Send NATO to Ukraine! ”
It's by far the most outrageous expression of being an athlete. I wonder if Broff can still approve of him?